The Tampa Bay Lightning took advantage of the Vancouver Canucks desire to shed a veteran defenceman. cheap nfl jerseys . Numbers Game looks at the deal sending Jason Garrison back to the state of Florida. The Lighting Get: D Jason Garrison and LW Jeff Costello. Garrison, 29, is a defenceman with good size and a cannon of a shot from the point who tied a career-high with 33 points last seasn and will be able to handle top-four minutes on the Tampa Bay defence. Garrison has played more than 20 minutes per game in each of the past four seasons and, over the course of those four years, no defenceman has fired shots at a higher rate on the power play. Over the past three seasons, he ranks 15th among defencemen with 2.16 shots on goal per game and has missed a total of seven games, so hes been durable. Last season wasnt Garrisons best, in terms of possession stats, but hes had positive possession numbers in the past, so last year shouldnt preclude him from being a useful part of the Tampa Bay defence. In Tampa Bay, the Lightning really needed an upgrade on defence. Victor Hedman and Matt Carle were the only defencemen on the roster that averaged more than 20 minutes per game last season and Garrison will add stability, as well as a power play point threat, to that group. Garrison had to waive his no-trade clause for the deal to go through, and he has four years, at a cap hit of $4.6-million, remaining on his contract. Its also not a bad deal for Tampa Bay since the contracdt was front-loaded, so the last four years come at a total cost of $15.6-million (an average of $3.9-million per season). Costello is a 23-year-old winger who finished a four-year career at Notre Dame, scoring 82 points in 145 games. He was acquired from Ottawa at the trade deadline, but hes not signed and may be set to become a pro free agent after August 15. The Lightning dont currently have much room on their reserve list, and the Canucks could also use the extra room in their attempts to acquire more players. The Canucks Get: A second-round pick. The 50th overall pick presents about a one-in-three chance of netting an NHL player. While its useful to get an asset, the move is more about clearing room on the Vancouver blueline. Chris Tanev joins Dan Hamhuis, Kevin Bieksa and Alexander Edler in the top four on defence, and newly-acquired Luca Sbisa can pair with Ryan Stanton on the third pair, so there was room for the Canucks to move out an established NHL defenceman and, just as importantly move out the accompanying salary. Its been a busy day, just leading up to the draft, for the Canucks, so there could very well be more to come but, whats been done establishes that Vancouver will be younger than they were last season, with financial flexibility to make moves this summer if they so choose. With a new regime, it would come as no surprise if the Canucks continue to be active in their attempt to re-build the roster. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. wholesale jerseys . LOUIS -- St. cheap jerseys . "Its huge," Casey said of Torontos matchup with the fifth-place Hawks, who sit 1.5 games behind the Raptors for third place in the Eastern Conference. "Its not like in the past where games dont matter. In the past we were building, getting guys experience.(Sports Network) - Pro basketballs most storied rivalry resumes in Beantown tonight, when the streaking Boston Celtics aim to complete a perfect five- game homestand versus the despised Los Angeles Lakers. Catch all the action live ob TSN2 beginning at 8pm et/5pm pt. The Celtics (17) and Lakers (16) have accounted for 33 of the 65 NBA championships. Boston, of course, won its last title in 2007-08, when it disposed of the Lakers in six games during the NBA Finals. LA rebounded from there to win two consecutive crowns, including the 09-10 title at the expense of the Cs in seven games. Neither team has played like a powerhouse so far this season, however, with Boston looking up at Philadelphia in the Atlantic Division and the Lakers playing second fiddle to the Clippers in the Pacific. The Celtics, however, have come on recently and enter tonights game on a five-game winning streak, including Tuesdays 94-84 triumph over Charlotte. Paul Pierce passed Larry Bird for second all-time on Bostons scoring list in that one when he scored 15 points to go along with nine assists and eight rebounds. With 21,797 career points, Pierce now trails only John Havlicek (26,395) in Celtics lore. "It was a relief. So much was hanging over me the last couple of days. Just hearing about it and knowing that youve got a game to play," said Pierce about passing Bird. "Just to be mentioned with him, with this organization, is a great honor." Kevin Garnett led the Celtics against Charlotte with 22 points and Ray Allen chipped in 17. Rajon Rondo added a double-double with 10 points and 14 assists for the Celtics, who have won nine of their last 10. The Lakers, meanwhile, have fallen to 1-2 on their annual Grammy road trip after Mondays 95-90 setback to the Sixers in South Philly. Kobe Bryant scored 24 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point range in the first half of that one but struggled after intermission. The superstar ended with 28 points and surpassed former teammate Shaquille ONeal for fifth place on the NBAs all-time scoring list. Bryant now has 28,601 career points. Wilt Chamberlain currently sits comfortably ahead in fourth place with 31,419 points. "Its a huge honor," Bryant said of his latest accomplishment. "Ive been very fortunate." Andrew Bynum poured in 20 points and pulled down a game-best 20 rebounds as LA dropped its second straight contest. "They just came after him immediately," assistant coach John Kuester, who was piloting the Lakers for the suspended Mike Brown, said, "and to Kobes credit, what he did was try to get everyone involved. We had some great hits. When you are coming down to the end of the game, your margin of error is very small, and you have to take advantage of that. Things just didnt go our way." Brown will be back on the bench tonight as LA tries to improve on its shaky 3-9 road mark. LA has won three straight and five of its last six in Beantown during the regular season. These two teams will meet again in Staples Center on March 11. Thunder continue road trip at Sacramento (Sports Network) - The NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder have been moving along quitee steadily this season and will try to keep it that way when they resume a five-game road trip tonight against the Sacramento Kings. cheap jerseys from china. Oklahoma City is coming off Tuesdays 119-116 victory over the Golden State Warriors in which Kevin Durant poured in a team-best 33 points on 13-of-27 shooting, grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out seven assists. Durant, who hit the go-ahead basket with 14.2 seconds left, has scored 30 or more points in five of his last seven games, averaging 31.4 ppg in that span. Russell Westbrook also hit the 30-point mark with 31 points and James Harden provided 19 in a reserve role. The Thunder survived a 48-point performance by Warriors guard Monta Ellis and a triple-double from big man David Lee (25 p, 11 r, 10 a). Thunder head coach Scott Brooks was pleased with the effort. "Our guys never gave up. We fought back and continued to believe in each other," Brooks said following his teams 15th win in 18 tries. Daequan Cook scored 17 points for the Thunder, who have the leagues best record at 20-5 and improved to 11-4 away from home this season. Oklahoma City will close out the journey Friday against the Utah Jazz. Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha missed his sixth consecutive game with right foot soreness and is still out indefinitely. The Northwest Division-leading Thunder are one of only four Western Conference teams (Denver, Minnesota and the LA Clippers) to boast a winning road record. Sacramento is in the basement of the Pacific Division and had a season-high three-game winning streak come to an end with Tuesdays 86-84 loss at Minnesota. Marcus Thornton had a team-best 22 points and DeMarcus Cousins recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. "We had an opportunity for a shot but it didnt go down," said Sacramento head coach Keith Smart. "The players fought and played well enough to get back into the game after a really bad first quarter." Kings rookie Jimmer Fredette scored 13 points as a reserve and Tyreke Evans posted 11 points for the Kings, losers in six of nine games. The Kings will close out the homestand Saturday versus Phoenix and are 6-4 as the host. Minnesotas Nikola Pekovic abused the Kings to the tune of 23 points and 10 rebounds, and earned the attention of Sacramento head coach Keith Smart. "He is a man down there," Smart said of Pekovic. "He plays in the trenches where you have to play with a physical game and that young man has been playing well for over a week and a half now." Cousins has recorded 17 double-doubles this season, third-most in the NBA this season (behind Kevin Love and Dwight Howard), and is averaging 19.7 ppg and 16.7 rpg in the last three, recording double-doubles in each contest. Cousins recorded 26 double-doubles as a rookie last season. Sacramento lost all four meetings with the Thunder last season and is winless in the past six matchups between the teams. Oklahoma City has won nine of 10 and 10 of the last 13 encounters with the Kings. Durant is averaging 28.3 points in 14 career games against Sacramento. The Kings have lost all five visits to Oklahoma City. wholesale jerseyscheap jerseys ' ' '
